Investing.com – Australia equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Metals & Mining, Resources and IT sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.51% to hit a new 52-week low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Trade Me Group Ltd (AX:TME), which rose 16.53% or 0.790 points to trade at 5.570 at the close. Sonic Healthcare Ltd (AX:SHL) added 4.08% or 0.880 points to end at 22.450 and Rea Group Ltd (AX:REA) was up 3.55% or 2.560 points to 74.750 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Wesfarmers Ltd (AX:WES), which lost 27.77% or 12.280 points to trade at 31.940 in late trade. CYBG PLC (AX:CYB) declined 19.87% or 0.890 points to end at 3.590 and Beach Energy Ltd (AX:BPT) shed 10.69% or 0.185 points to 1.545.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 812 to 340 and 349 ended unchanged on the Sydney Stock Exchange.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was up 3.25% to 17.965.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.06% or 0.70 to $1221.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.37% or 0.73 to hit $54.16 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 1.23% or 0.77 to trade at $63.30 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.25% to 0.7231, while AUD/JPY rose 0.31% to 81.59.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.06% at 96.64.